- Visa data shows how spending during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is driving the French economy
- Small businesses in Paris saw sales increase by 26% year-on-year during the first weekend of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
- There has been significant growth in spending by Visa cardholders in many areas of trade, including restaurants, theaters and museums.
- The largest share of spending by foreigners comes from American Visa cardholders, while the most significant year-over-year spending increases were among Japanese and Brazilians.
The Paris Games drive business
During the first weekend of the Games, small businesses in Paris saw a 26% year-over-year increase in sales based on Visa cardholder spending.
The most significant increases in spending levels were recorded in theaters and museums (+159%), in the purchase of food and groceries (+42%), in restaurants (+36%), in retail (+21%) and in the entertainment sector (+ 18%).
The largest share of international spending comes from US Visa cardholders (29%), with significant year-over-year growth from Brazilian (+33%) and Japanese (+129%) Visa cardholders;
78% of purchases made by foreigners in Paris were made contactless, up 9% year-on-year.
There was a 39% increase in flight bookings to Paris in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games compared to the same period in 2023. The number of trips to Paris by tourists under 35 years of age increased by 120% year-on-year ;
The number of people traveling to Paris from the United States increased the most compared to the previous year (+64%), followed by fans from Germany (+61%) and Spain (+27%).
Spending also increased outside Paris
· Consumer spending also increased significantly in cities hosting Olympic events outside Paris, including Saint-Etienne (+214%), Lille (+100%) and Marseille (+38%).
– Our latest data shows a significant increase in consumer spending among Visa cardholders over the opening ceremony weekend. We are particularly pleased with the increase in spending on purchases in small French companies. Over the last 4 years, we have helped 13 million SMEs in Europe digitize and connected them with their fans thanks to the Visa Go application, says Charlotte Hogg, CEO of Visa in Europe.
Working with the Organizing Committee over the past three years, Visa has built a payments network in Paris and beyond. It ensures the acceptance of Visa contactless payments at 3,500 points of sale at 32 Olympic venues and 16 Paralympic venues.
The data was analyzed by the global VisaNet network. The following opening weekend of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 was compared: the weekends of July 28/29/30, 2023 and July 26/27/28, 2024 were compared. The data includes flights to Paris between July 19 and August 11, 2024 (compared to 2023) and at least 45 days of service implementation.
